The principal residents in this township are Ann Cadwallader, beerhouse keeper; Thomas Chidley, wheelwright and beerhouse keeper; Thomas Harper, corn miller; Caleb Harper, corn miller; Edward Hill, wheelwright; William W. Hull, Esq., Tickwood; John Perry, farmer, Wyke; Joseph Lloyd, farmer and stone dealer.

Harley-Wigwig and Homer, a small township in the parish of Much Wenlock, containing 552a. 1r. 20p. of land, at the census of 1841 had 47 scattered houses and a population of 218 souls.  Gross estimated rental, £861. 11s. 6d.; rateable value, £765. 6s.  The principle landowners are the Duke of Cleveland, Lord Forester, Samuel Meire, Esq., Sir George Harnage, and the Rev. Samuel Minton.  The land is chiefly farmed by the owners except at Harley.  The residents in this township are chiefly cottagers, and the houses are for the most part scattered.  The tithes are commuted for £48. 15s.

Presthope is a township with a few scattered houses in the parish of Much Wenlock, situated on the Wenlock Edge, upwards of three miles from the parish church; at the census of 1841 there were fourteen houses and 71 inhabitants in the township, which comprises 742a. 2r. 8p. of land, the principal owners of which are Lord Bradford, and M. G. Benson, Esq.  Gross estimated rental, £807. 6s. 8d.; rateable value, £727. 6s.  Wenlock Edge is a precipitous ridge running about eleven miles in a south-westerly direction.  King Henry I. after the capture of Bridgnorth commanded his army to pass through Hunel Hege and lay siege to Shrewsbury.  “Hunel hedge is the English name for a passage through a wood; in Latin it may be called malus callis or vicus; for it was a hollow way of a mile in length, full of great sharp stones, and so narrow as scarcely to admit two horsemen abreast.  It was overshadowed on each side by a dark wood wherein were stationed archers in ambuscade who greatly annoyed the army with arrows and other missile weapons; but as the king had more than 60,000 men in his army he detached large parties to cut down the wood and make a wide road which should endure for the use of posterity.”  From this period we may probably date the existence of a road over this steep ridge which has since been rendered more commodious.  Many of the passes however down this rugged steep retain much of their wild and romantic character.  The tithes are commuted for £80. 6s.

The chief residents at Presthope are Richard Child Milner, farmer; Rev. Robert H. G. More, and John Shirley, farmer.

PRIORS DITTON,

Charities.—Mrs. Catherine Barker, by her will dated the 24th of January, 1699, devised to trustees certain freehold estates in Priors Ditton, on trust, (after certain other purposes specified by her) that they should out of the residue assure to the use of the poor of the said parish the yearly sum of £5, to continue for ever, and to be paid to the parson and churchwardens at the feast of Christmas and St. John the Baptist in equal portions.  This annuity is paid by Francis Canning, Esq., of Foxcote, in the county of Warwick, who is the proprietor of the premises charged.  The amount is distributed in small sums among the poor.  Mrs. Dorothy Holland, by her will dated November 15th, 1723, bequeathed to the churchwardens and overseers of the poor of the parish, the sum of £20 in trust, to be invested in lands, and the rents of such lands she directed to be laid out in bread and distributed by the minister and churchwardens among twelve poor people of the parish, one half on Easter-day and the other half on Christmas-day.  We do not find any account of the disposal of the money prior to the 2nd June, 1783, when it appears to have been placed in the hands of Francis Canning, Esq., at five per cent interest, upon the security of his bond.  The interest is distributed by the churchwardens in the same manner as Barker’s charity, a course of distribution which is somewhat at variance with the directions of the donor.

Ashfield and Ruthall is a small township in the parish of Priors Ditton, on the north-west side of the parish, and within the bounds of the Munslow hundred, the rest of the parish being in the Wenlock Franchise.  The township contains 697a. 3r. of land, and at the census of 1841 had nine scattered houses and fifty-five inhabitants.  Rateable value, £373. 6s.  Lady Boyne is the proprietor of the land at Ashfield.  The landowners in Ruthall are Thomas Roberts, Esq., Richard Onslow, Esq., and John Adney, Esq.; the former is lord of the manor.  The lord of the manor claims a heriot (usually the best beast) on the death of every owner in his lordship.

Middleton Priors is a township in the parish of Priors Ditton which comprises 2,450a. 0r. 34p. of land, mostly an inferior soil.  The land as chiefly the property of Philip Henry Howard, Esq., who is also lord of the manor.  At the census in 1841 there were 47 houses and 109 inhabitants.  Rateable value, £1,479. 19s. 6d.  Middleton Hall is a spacious modern house which stands on a considerable elevation and is a conspicuous object many miles around.  It was formerly the residence of the Howard family, when the top story of the hall was converted into a private oratory; it is adorned with some fine paintings, and over the altar is a beautifully executed representation of the crucifixion; adjoining is a room for robing and unrobing the priests, and another room is used as the confessional.  A commodious and airy school room has been built by the lord of the manor, who also pays for the gratuitous education of the children; about sixty attend.  A dwelling house for the teacher has also been built.

Priors Ditton, Ashfield and Ruthall, and Middleton Priors Directories.

Adney John, farmer, Ruthall

Amies John, wheelwright, Priors Ditton

Andrew William, vict., Plough, Priors Ditton

Barnbrooke, Timothy, farmer, Middleton

Bradley Thomas, farmer, Priors Ditton

Chidley Edward, farmer, Priors Ditton

Cubby William, schoolmaster, Middleton

Davis Edward, surgeon, Priors Ditton

Darrell Thomas, farmer, Middleton

Downes John, farmer, Manor house, Ruthall

Easthope Thomas, farmer, Middleton

Evans John, farmer, Priors Ditton

Evans William, wheelwright, Priors Ditton

Goode Thomas, farmer, Priors Ditton

Green Henry, farmer, Priors Ditton

Green Mary, farmer & corn miller, Middleton

Hicks William, blacksmith, Priors Ditton

Jones George, farmer, Priors Ditton

Jones Thomas, farmer, Middleton

Millward William, farmer, Priors Ditton

Power Michael, maltster, miller, and steward to P. H. Howard, Esq., Middleton

Reynolds Francis, farmer, Priors Ditton

Reynolds Richard, farmer, Middleton

Reynolds Richard, farmer, Priors Ditton

Ridsdale Rev. Edward, vicar, Priors Ditton

Smallman Richard, blacksmith, Priors Ditton

Southern Henry, vict., Cannings Arms, Priors Ditton

Thomas Edward, farmer, Middleton

Thomas John, cattle dealer, Priors Ditton

Wainwright Mary, farmer, Ashfield

WILLEY

is a small parish comprising 1353a. 2r. 6p. of land, situated in a pleasant part of the county, four miles east from Much Wenlock, and four and a half miles north-west from Bridgnorth.  At the census in 1801 there were 163 inhabitants; 1831, 159; and in 1851, 144; of whom 75 were males, and 69 females.  Inhabited houses, 30.  Rateable value, £1,888. 8s. 5d.  Lord Forester is the principal landowner, and lord of the manor.  Henry Cartwright, Esq., is also a proprietor.  Willey Park, the magnificent seat of Lord Forester, is a spacious and elegant mansion of freestone, delightfully situated in an extensive and richly wooded park.  The principal front, with the offices, extends upwards of three hundred feet, and is approached by a portico of the Corinthian order, greatly admired for superb workmanship and architectural effect.  The interior of the mansion is splendidly furnished, and contains many fine paintings, many of which are the exquisite productions of some of the most celebrated masters.  The library is extensive, and contains a valuable and choice collection of standard works.  The gardens and pleasure grounds are laid out with great taste, and the park is beautifully adorned with sylvan beauty, a fine lake adding much to the interest of the scene.  The family of Weld had anciently a seat at Willey.  “William Weld was sheriff of London in 1352: his descendant, Sir John Weld, purchased Willey from Sir Thomas Lacon, of Kinlet, between 1612 and 1623.  His descendant in the fourth degree, Elizabeth Weld, married Brooke Forester, of Dothill Park, near Wellington; whose son George, dying unmarried, bequeathed Willey and his other great estates, with an injunction to adopt the name of Weld, to his cousin, Cecil Weld Forester, created Lord Forester, of Willey Park, in 1821.”  Mr. Moule, author of a work on Heraldry, says, “Lord Forester is lineally descended from John Forester, Esq., of Watling street, who held a singularly curious grant from King Henry VIII. to wear his hat in the royal presence; which identical document is preserved in the family.”

The Church is a small venerable fabric, consisting of nave and chancel, with a short tower, which contains three bells.  There are several memorials to the various members of the ancient family of Weld.  The living is a rectory, with the perpetual curacy of Barrow annexed, valued in the king’s book at £5. 6s. 3d., now returned at £329, in the patronage of Lord Forester: incumbent, the Hon. and Rev. George O. Bridgeman.  The tithes of Willey have been commuted for £233. 18s.

Charities.—Robert Evans, of the Dean, bequeathed 10s. per annum to be expended in bread for the poor.  The payment of this gift commenced in 1709, and the legacy is now considered to be secured by a bond in the possession of the parish, given by the late Mr. John Perry, of Willey, whose executors pay the money to the parish officers.

The Rev. Francis Wheeler, rector of Willey, bequeathed 10s. yearly, to be paid at Christmas by the ministers of the two churches in Bridgnorth; 5s. each to be given to the poor of Willey in money or bread.  This gift is distributed at Christmas, together with the sacrament money and Evan’s gift.

The principal residents in Willey are the Right Hon. Lord Forester, Willey Park; the Hon. and Rev. George O. Bridgeman; Henry Cartwright, Esq., The Dean; George Goodfellow, bailiff to George Pritchard, Esq.; Edmund Raby, farmer; and John Stobbs, farmer.

LUDLOW

is a borough and market town, on the southern border of the county, 143 miles N.W. by W. from London, and twenty-five south from Shrewsbury, situated on an eminence, at the junction of the Corve with the Teme, and surrounded by a country varied with delightful prospects in every direction.  This ancient and populous town is upwards of a mile in length and half a mile in breadth, having a number of regular and wide well paved streets, lying in diverging and inclined directions from the highest and most central part of the town; a circumstance which greatly promotes its cleanliness and salubrity.  The houses in general are neat, well built, and better arranged than those of most inland towns of the same antiquity.  The town is skirted by the rivers Corve and Teme, and abundantly supplied with water by pipes from springs in the vicinity to the public pumps, as well as from the river Corve by machinery and pipes to the different houses.  The glove trade formerly employed upwards of one thousand hands here, but owing, it is thought, to the introduction of French gloves, and the establishment of marts for articles of a cheaper fabrication in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, the trade declined some years ago, and has now become almost extinct.  Malt is made to a considerable extent, and there is a paper mill, and an establishment for the manufacture of blankets and a coarse kind of woollen cloth chiefly used for horse collars.  The town has, however, been kept in a flourishing state by the numerous respectable residents which the extreme beauty of its situation has attracted to it.  There is a market here on a Monday for grain, provisions, and poultry, which is usually well attended.  Markets are also held on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, for provisions.  Fairs for horned cattle, horses, pigs, and general merchandise, are held on the Monday before February 13th, Tuesday before Easter, May 1st (for hiring servants), Wednesday in Whitsun-week, August 21st, September 28th, and the first Mondays in November and December.  Population in 1801, 3,897; 1831, 5,253.  In 1841 the parish of St. Lawrence contained 1,086 houses and 5,064 inhabitants; of whom 3,041 were males and 3,157 females.  Rateable value of the borough, £12,812. 4s. 9d.  An act of parliament was obtained in 1794 for lighting and paving the town.  The annual races are held in July, and continue for two days.

Under the Municipal Reform Act, a commission of the peace has been granted anew, and the court of quarter sessions re-appointed.  Petty sessions are held weekly, and a court leet annually for swearing in constables.  The borough is now governed by four aldermen and twelve councillors, under the usual corporate style.  The persons qualified to vote for the town council, after the passing of the act, amounted to 307 in the parish of St. Lawrence, and seven in the township of Ludford, of which latter district the boundary commissioners proposed the exclusion, it being practically beyond the corporate limits.  In other respects, the boundaries laid down in their report are extended on the west and east; particularly the latter, which stretches into the parishes of Stanton Lacy, on building ground as far as the parliamentary borough.  The following is a list of the members of parliament, borough magistrates, and corporate officers for the year 1851:—

Members of Parliament: Colonel Salwey and Henry B. Clive, Esq.

Magistrates: Francis Massey, Esq.; Humphrey Smith, Esq.; John Thomas, Esq.; Robert Thomas, Esq.; and Benjamin Urwick, Esq.

It is well known that the aboriginal inhabitants of this island made a last and determined stand against their invading enemies in that district which had its boundary in what in later times was called the Marches of Wales, in which Ludlow seems to have been anciently included.  This tract, however, might be extended from time to time, one way or the other, as either party occasionally gained ground; it is certainly known that Ludlow was early occupied as a military station to withstand the incursions of the Britons, who manfully disputed every inch of ground as they slowly retreated before their powerful enemies.  The Romans are said to have been engaged nearly two hundred years in subduing Britain, and of the active operations of the contending parties interesting traces yet remain.  Upon the remarkable hill called Caer Caradoc, historical accounts agree in stating it to have been occupied by the brave Caractacus, and many fierce battles to have been fought in its vicinity.  An ancient writer describes this place as “exceedingly well fortified, both by nature and art, upon the toppe of an high hill, environed with a tripple ditche of greate depth.  There were iij gates, and on three sides steepe headlong places, and compassed on the lifte hande with the river Colun, on the right with Themis.”  Different situations have been ascribed to the scene of the last decisive action between Ostorius and Caractacus, but none rest upon such strong grounds of probability as the stations of Brandon Camp and Coxwall Knoll.  The first of these is situated a little west of the Roman road leading from Magna to Ariconium or Wroxeter.  The second is within sight, and distant from the Roman Camp about three miles, near the village of Brampton Brian.  It crowns the summit of a lofty hill, and is of irregular shape, strong by nature, but made stronger by art.  A survey of these two camps by the antiquarian must be peculiarly interesting, when he recollects that an Ostorius stood on one camp and a Caractacus on the other; and that their heroic deeds were recorded by the pen of a Tacitus.  Each particular related by the historian concerning their respective situations coincides with the natural position of the river Teme and the camps of Brandon and Coxwall hills.  From the departure of the Romans to the Norman conquest history supplies no certain information concerning Ludlow; yet it is probable that there existed here a town or fortress previous to the recorded erection of the castle.

In the 47th of Henry III., Roger Mortimer, James de Alditheley, and Hamo L’Estrange had a general rendezvous with the barons of the Marches at Ludlow, to concert proper measures for suppressing the insolence of Simon de Montford, Earl of Leicester, and the other barons who had taken up arms against the king.  The Earl of Leicester, to oppose the powers of the Marches, made a league with Leoline Prince of Wales, who with united forces attacked the castles of Hay and Ludlow, which were both burnt and demolished.  Roger Mortimer, governor of the castle in the time of Edward II., was committed to the tower for a riot that he promoted on account of his dissatisfaction with the ministry of the Spencers: being jealous of a design against his life, he made an entertainment for Sir Stephen de Segrave, the constable of the tower, and in the midst of their cups and jollity, he privately gave him a soporiferous medicine, which, with the contrivance of his keeper, gave him an opportunity of sliding down a rope, and so flying into France.  Upon his return, out of a grateful acknowledgment of divine providence for his deliverance out of the tower, he built a chapel in Ludlow castle, dedicated it to St. Peter, and appointed a priest to celebrate divine service for ever.  In the second of Edward III. he was made chief justice of Wales, and created Earl of March; and the same year he celebrated with great magnificence the feast of the round table at Bedford.  Soon after, the king making a progress into Wales, he was entertained at Ludlow.  The promotion of this lord to exalted stations made him excessively proud, and he eventually fell into disgrace at court.  He was apprehended at Nottingham, and carried under arrest to London; all his land being seized, and his chattles secured at the same time to the king’s use.  The two main articles against him were, his having a hand in conspiring the murder of King Edward II., and his lewd familiarity with the queen, for which he was executed near Smithfield, where his corpse hung two days, and was exposed to greater indignities than usual.  The castle, on his insurrection, having come into the possession of Richard Duke of York, was subjected to a siege by the forces of Henry VI.  As he advanced towards Ludlow, the army of the Yorkists was drawn out into an intrenched camp in the fields of Ludford.  Sir Andrew Trollop, who had been made marshal of the Yorkist army, deserted to the royalists, carrying with him the veteran troops under his particular command, and betrayed all their councils to the king.  Dismayed by this defection, the Yorkists broke up their camp and fled, and the Lancasterians entered Ludlow, and wreaked their vengeance on the town and castle, which are said by old historians to have been plundered to “the bare walls.”  The Duchess of York, with her two sons, were taken and placed in safe ward, and many of the rich partisans of the duke were executed, and their estates confiscated.

In the civil wars between Charles I. and the Parliament, Ludlow was occupied by the royal party.  In the summer of 1645, a force of nearly two thousand horse and foot, drawn together out of the garrisons of Ludlow, Hereford, and Worcester, were, by a less number of the Parliamentary forces, defeated at Stokesay, near Ludlow.  It was not, however, till the following year that Ludlow Castle fell into the hands of General Sir Wm. Brereton, to whom it was given up by Sir Michael Woodhouse.  The Earl of Bridgwater, governor of the castle, died in 1648, and was succeeded by Richard Lord Vaughen, Earl Carbery.  Samuel Butler, the satirical author of “Hudibras,” was appointed his secretary and steward.  A tower is still shown as the place where Butler wrote a part of his incomparable work, the first part of which was published in 1663.  This poem was universally admired; the King quoted, the courtiers studied, and the royalists applauded it, but the author was the dupe of promises which were never fulfilled.  In the midst of disappointment and neglect he published the third part in an unfinished state, and in 1080 he died in indigence.

“Anno Domini Millessimo Quinquitesimo Octagesimo completo, Anno regni illustrissimæ ac serenissimæ regina Elizabethæ vicesima iertio currente, 1581.”

The court is an irregular square, and not very spacious, but the lofty embattled walls by which it is enclosed, though in ruins, still preserve their original outlines, and the frowning towers and bold masses, luxuriously mantled with ivy, present a rare specimen of the fallen magnificence of the feudal ages.  The keep is a large square embattled tower, divided into four stories, and rises to the height of 110 feet.  It is probably the only part of the castle which dates from the time of Roger de Montgomery.  Most of the windows and doorways are distinguished by their round Norman arches.  The ground floor is the dungeon half under ground.  The arched roof is twenty feet in height.  In the arch are three square apertures, which communicating with the chamber above, served for the purpose of admitting and inspecting the prisoners, and were probably intended also for raising supplies of ammunition and provisions, during a time of siege.  On the second floor is a room measuring 30 feet by 18, with a fire place.  The room communicates on the left with a square arched chamber, and on the right with a narrow oblong room.  This tower measures 46 feet by 34, and the walls are from 9 to 12 feet thick.  Facing the gate is the hall, measuring 60 feet by 30, and was originally approached by a flight of steps.  There remains now neither roof nor floor to this once elegant apartment where the splendid scene of Comus was first exhibited, and where hospitality and magnificence blazed for ages in succession without diminution or decay.  Two pointed arches lead to a spacious tower attached to the west end of the hall, in which are several apartments, one of which is still called Prince Arthur’s room.  On the opposite end of the hall is another square tower, one of the rooms of which is pointed out as the banqueting hall.  A spacious chamber above has been adorned with an unusual degree of rude magnificence.

The chapel was built in the reign of Henry I. by Joce de Dinan; all that now remains of it is the nave—a circular building, one of the earliest of this description in England.  The approach is by a remarkably elegant Norman doorway, richly adorned with ornaments peculiar to the style of the period in which it was built.  In the interior rising from the floor are fourteen recesses in the wall formed by small pillars, with indented capitals supporting round arches, which have alternately plain and zigzag mouldings.  A filleted ornament runs round the exterior of the wall.  A covered way led from the state apartments to the chapel.  In the time of Queen Elizabeth the interior was covered with panels exhibiting the armorial bearings which church-yard describes as “armes in colours sitch as few can shewe.”

The north and south chapels of the choir are separated from the transepts by remarkably handsome carved screens; in the windows are paintings representing the history of the apostles, and also very splendid remnants of stained glass, portraying the story of the ring presented by some pilgrims to Edward the Confessor, who, as “The Chronicles” relate, “was warned of his death certain days before he died by a ring that was brought him by certain pilgrims, which ring he had secretly given to a poor man that asked his charity in the name of God and St. John the Evangelist.  These pilgrims, as the legend recites, were men of Ludlow.”  The ceiling is of oak resting on corbels, which spring from highly decorated figures of angels bearing shields.  The extreme length from east to west is 203 feet, and the breadth across the transepts measures 130 feet.  The tower rises 131 feet in height, forming a prominent object, and gives considerable beauty to many prospects from the neighbouring country.  In the church there are two highly finished effigies of Judge Bridgeman and his lady, but much mutilated.  The head of the tomb was opened in 1805 (on sinking a grave for the body of Mrs. Turner) when the hair of both Sir John and his lady was found perfectly entire; the coffins mouldered on exposure to the air.  In the high chancel is a large Grecian monument displaying an elegant sculptured cherub and emblems of time and eternity, in memory of Theophilus Salwey, Esq., who died in 1760.  A handsome altar tomb of white marble has recumbent effigies of chief Justice Waiter and his lady; and on the front are figures representing their issue.  Judge Walter died in 1592.  Within the communion rails is a tomb in memory of Sir Robert Townsend and his lady, with two full length figures, and surrounding the base stand their children.  Dame Mary Evre, who died in 1612, has a tomb erected to her memory, at the back of which are the armorial bearings of the family.  Upon the tomb is a recumbent figure resting on a cushion, habited in the dress of the times and the head covered with a hood.  In various parts of the building will be found several interesting tablets and mural monuments.  Though not collegiate the church of St. Lawrence anciently possessed a chantry of ten priests, maintained by the rich guild of St. John, who gave to its choral services the splendour of a cathedral.  The living is a rectory valued in the king’s book at £19. 12s. 6d., now returned at £160 in the patronage of the lord chancellor.  The tithes have been commuted for £23. 13s. 6d.  Ecclesiastical courts are held here for granting probates of wills and letters of administration.

The Independent Chapel, situated in Old street, is a neat structure capable of accommodating upwards of three hundred persons, and was erected in 1830.  The congregation formerly assembled for divine worship in a chapel still standing, situate on the banks of the river, near the bottom of Corve street.  Before the erection of this fabric, in which they continued to meet for nearly a century, the dissenters conducted their religious services in a licensed dwelling house, where, in the early part of 1731, they were furiously assailed by a mob.  This vain attempt to crush them led to the erection of the first dissenting house in the borough.  The Rev. Theophilus Davies is the pastor of the congregation.

The Methodist Chapel, a plain structure situated in Lower Broad street, was enlarged in 1835, and is now capable of holding about five hundred hearers.  The Primitive Methodist Chapel, situated in Old street, is a substantial building erected in 1836, and has accommodation for upwards of three hundred worshippers.

The Boys’ National School is held in a spacious room over the Market Cross; and the Girls’ School is held in a house in Brand lane.  They are supported by voluntary subscriptions and charitable benefactions: the latter will be found noticed with the general charities of the borough.  The gross income for the year 1850 was £155. 16s. 3d.

The Ludlow County Court, for law proceedings in actions and claims not exceeding £50, embraces the following places, viz., Abdon, Ashford Bowdler, Ashford Carbonell, Aston, Acton Scott, Bitterley, Bromfield, Burrington, Cainham, Clee St. Margaret, Cold Weston, Culmington, Diddlebury, Downton, Elton, Halford, Heath, Holdgate, Hope Baggot, Hopton Cangeford, Leinthall Starkes, Leintwardine, Ludford, Munslow, Onibury, Richards Castle, St. Lawrence Ludlow, Sibdon Carwood, Stanton Lacy, Stoke St. Milborough, Stoke Say, Tugford, Wigmore and Wistanston.  Judge, Uvedale Corbett, Esq.; Clerk, John Williams, Esq.; High Bailiff, William Davies.

The Ludlow Library, and Mechanics’ Institution, established in 1841, is held in one of the rooms of the market hall, the use of which has been granted by the corporation.  The institution has an interesting library of nearly 300 volumes.  Mr. George Cocking is the secretary.

The Public Rooms, situated in Castle street, were erected in 1840 by a company of shareholders.  One portion is set apart for the Ludlow Natural History Society, where there is deposited a choice and valuable collection of fossils, British and foreign birds and animals, &c.  This institution was established in 1834.  There is also a spacious and elegant Assembly Room, and another for magisterial purposes, besides a Reading Room well supplied with the principal London and provincial journals.  The Market Cross is a neat edifice, with a cupola, where butter and other productions are sold on the market days.  The Market House is a plain brick building in Castle street, containing large and convenient rooms for the meetings of the corporation.

The Dispensary is supported by voluntary subscriptions, a collection made in Ludlow church every alternate year, and the dividends of certain charitable bequests.  The number of patients cured or relieved during the year 1851 was 279.  Mr. H. Hodges, consulting surgeon; and Mr. Harley, dispenser.  The Lying-in Institution was established in 1810, since which 3,561 persons have been relieved and visited, under the direction of the managing directors.

The Gas Works.  The Union Gas Works were established in 1840 by a company of shareholders with a capital stock of £3,050.  The old gas works are situated on the road to the Clee Hill.

The Water Works are the property of the corporation.  The water is forced by an engine from the river to a reservoir at the top of the Market-hall, and thence conveyed in pipes to different parts of the town.  There are also conduits supplied by pipes with excellent water from the neighbouring hills.

Ludlow Poor-law Union Workhouse is a spacious stone edifice, situated in the parish of Stanton Lacy.  The union comprehends an area of 125 miles, and embraces the following parishes, viz.:—Abdon, Ashford Bowdler, Ashford Carbonel, Bitterley, Bromfield, Caynham, Clee St. Margaret, Cold Weston, Culmington, Diddlebury, Halford, Heath, Holdgate, Hope Baggott, Hopton Cangeford, Munslow, Onibury, Richard’s Castle, St. Lawrence Ludlow, Stanton Lacy, Stoke, St. Milborough, Stokesay, and Tugford, all in the county of Salop; Aston Burrington, Downton, Elton, Leinthall Starkes, Richard’s Castle, and Wigmore, in Herefordshire; the parishes of Leintwardine and Ludford are situated in both counties.  Expenditure for the year ending 28th September, 1850, £3,533. 15s. 10½d.  Clerk: Robert Thomas.  Medical Officers: Henry Meymott, John Southern, Charles Pothecary, Daniel Gingell, Robert Jones.  Relieving Officers: William Russell, James Jones, John Harding, Edward Millichap.  Chaplain: Robert Meyricke.  Master and Matron: William and Mrs. Russell.

Dinham House, an elegant and spacious mansion, situated near the Castle (now the residence of John Thomas, Esq.), towards the close of the late war was occupied by Lucien Bonaparte, being then detained a prisoner in England.  He left Ludlow on Sunday, June 30th, 1811.

Among the customs peculiar to this town that of rope pulling is not the least extraordinary.  On Shrove-Tuesday the corporation provides a rope, three inches in thickness and thirty-six yards in length, which is given out at one of the windows of the Market House, when a large body of the inhabitants, divided into two parties (one contending for Castle street and Broad street wards, and the other for Old street and Corve street wards), commence an arduous struggle; and as soon as either party has gained a victory, by pulling the rope beyond the prescribed limits, the pulling ceases.  The rope is usually purchased from the victorious party, and then given out again.  Ludlow preserves the custom of walking over the limits of the township once a-year.  This procession takes place on the Wednesday before Holy Thursday, on which occasion the boys of the different schools, attended by one of the clergy, proceed from the church to a place near Corve Bridge, where a cross formerly stood.  Here the Epistle for the preceding Sunday is read; from whence passing to Weeping Cross, the boys again kneel down, and the Gospel for the same day is read by the clergyman.

The Broad Gate, the only one now remaining entire, receives its name from an ancient religious foundation called Barnaby House, famous in past ages as the temporary resting place of the numerous devotees passing through Ludlow on their way to the Holy Well of St. Winefrede, in North Wales.  Adjoining formerly stood a chapel, dedicated to St. Mary of the Vale.  The Gateway of Millgate is at the end of Barnaby lane.  In Lower Millgate traces of the town wall are still to be seen.  In 1786 Dinham gate remained entire, adjoining which anciently stood a chapel, approached by a flight of steps.  The land leading from the bottom of Mill street to Dinham bears the name of Camp, from the frequent encampment of soldiers there.  Old Gate stood at the bottom of Old street.

A religious house of White Friars was founded at Ludlow, in 1349, by Sir Laurence de Ludlowe, Knt., which we are informed by Leland “was a fayre and costlie thinge, and stoode without Corve Gate by north, almost at the end of that suburb.”  Stukeley, who wrote about the year 1720, says, “There was a rich priory out of the town, on the north side.  Little remains now to be seen, excepting a small adjoining church once belonging to it.  About the same place an arched gateway went across the street, but now demolished.”  The church above mentioned was the chapel of St. Leonard, founded in 1590, and intended for a charitable and religious establishment, the almshouse having survived its chapel, and, according to the will of the founder, contributes to the maintenance of four poor persons.  Near to Friars’ lane was situated the establishment of Augustine Friars, to which Edmund de Pontibus was a benefactor.  There was an Hospital, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, situated near the bridge, founded by Peter Undergod, and endowed with certain lands for the maintenance of certain religious brethren, and sustentation of poor and infirm people.  The annual value at the dissolution was £17. 13s. 3d.

Thomas Johnes, Esq., was born at Ludlow, in the year 1783.  He received his early education at Shrewsbury school, and took his degree of M.A. at Oxford.  In 1783 Mr. Johnes erected an elegant mansion at Hafod, which in 1807 was consumed by a destructive fire, with much of its valuable contents, the loss amounting to £70,000.  Notwithstanding this disaster, he rebuilt and adorned his mansion anew.  Here he indulged his taste for literature, employed a printing press on his own premises, and produced some elegant historical works.  He died in 1814, and was buried in the church which he had built at Hafod.

Charities.—The Grammar School.—It appears that all the premises specified in a certain grant, and constituting the possessions of the Guild or Fraternity of Palmers, had been unconditionally surrendered by them to King Edward VI. by deed under their common seal, dated 1st June, in the fifth of his reign.  The property thus unconditionally surrendered to the king was granted by him to the corporation for the relief and better sustaining of the town and borough of Ludlow, and for the corporation, “at their own costs and charges,” to maintain a free grammar school, and other charitable institutions mentioned in the charter.  It appears the legal import of the charter was not to grant the property upon trust to employ the whole of the rents and profits to the maintenance of the charities, but to make a beneficial grant of it to the corporation, coupled with a condition that they should, out of the income they thus acquired, sufficiently maintain the charitable institutions therein specified.  The school premises comprise two houses, in which the master resides.  About fifty years ago, the premises were nearly rebuilt, at a cost of £700.  The school is open to the whole town, without any limitation of number, on payment of £3 annually.  Four of the boys, nominated by the bailiffs, receive a benefaction of £2. 13s. 4d. per annum, under the will of Dr. Langford.  The school is also entitled to two exhibitions of £45 to Baliol College, Oxford, for 11 years, founded by the Rev. Richard Greaves in the year 1704.  There are also three exhibitions of £50 for three years to any college in Oxford, Cambridge, or Durham.  It is stated in the particular of the Guild estate, that “there is an almshouse to the Guild appertaining, with thirty-three chambers therein inhabited by poor people, according to the foundation and ordinance of John Hoyser, to every of which poor people is weekly allowed 4d.”  The Palmers Guild was a religious fraternity, established about the year 1248, for the relief of the poor, and for the administration of charitable bequests.  Before the period of the Reformation, their funds had increased so considerably that they formed a college, with a warden for three priests, and maintained the above almshouse for thirty-three poor people, and the grammar school.  On the passing of the Municipal Act, in 1835, it became necessary to separate the charity from the municipal property; and, after much litigation, lands yielding a clear rental of £1,800 a-year were secured to the charity for the purpose of maintaining the above-named objects.  The preacher, now called the lecturer (and who, as well as the assistant, is appointed by the corporation), received from them a salary of £26. 13s. 4d. per annum, when the Charity Commissioners published their report.  It appears that the Palmers Guild had been used to pay yearly to a schoolmaster, for keeping a free grammar school, £10; to one priest, £6; and to two others, £5. 6s. 8d. each.  The particular duties of these priests are not specified; but it seems probable that the usher, preacher, and assistant, were intended to be substituted by the charter in their stead.

From an old book belonging to the corporation, containing copies of wills and other documents relating to the charities of the town, it appears that James Walters, Esq., in 1624, devised an annuity of £20 to be paid out of his lands in Stanton Lacy and Richards Castle; £10 thereof to be distributed among the inmates of the almshouse, and £10 to be bestowed on the preacher.  It appears that a fee farm rent of £24. 13s. 4d., reserved by a charter of King Edward IV., out of certain lands granted to the corporation of Ludlow, and also the rent of £8. 13s. 4d., reserved by charter of King Edward VI., eventually became vested in the corporation; and £20 is now paid to the treasurer of the national school, and the remainder, £13. 6s. 8d., is considered as forming a part of the weekly payments to the almspeople.

Charles Foxe, by his will dated 1590, after reciting that he had lately purchased the chapel of St. Leonard, in Corve street, Ludlow, and a parcel of ground near thereto, whereon he had begun to erect four almshouses, for four poor and impotent persons, gave and bequeathed to certain trustees, in trust, four messuages, and all lands, tenements and hereditaments, with their appurtenances, situated in the city of Worcester, of the annual value of £8; to be by them so settled that out of the rents £4 should be paid to the four poor persons in the almshouse, and divided amongst them quarterly.  To the curate of Ludford, or some other sufficient minister, for reading divine service to the poor there, the sum of 40s. yearly.  To some learned preacher for a sermon in the said chapel at Christmas, 6s. 8d.; and the like sum for a sermon there in Lent.  And the residue of the rents (being £1. 6s. 8d.) he directed to be employed for the necessary repairing the said almshouses and chapel, and other necessary charges.  He gave two bells to be hung up in the steeple of the chapel.  About the year 1751 the chapel had gone greatly to decay, and the houses in Worcester become so ruinous and incapable of repair, that in 1758 the ground on which the tenements stood was let on building leases, at an annual rent of £11. 9s. 6d., for 99 years.  James Foxe the trustee, by deed in 1769, conveyed to the bailiffs, burgesses and commonalty of Ludlow, the aforesaid premises, in trust, for the support of the almshouse, in consequence of his residing so remote from Ludlow.  The present income of the charity is £14. 13s. 10d.  The almshouse consists of four dwellings, with a garden to each, and is inhabited by two poor persons from the parish of Bromfield, and two from Ludlow; who also receive from the corporation 1s. 6d. per week each, and 3s. 2d. yearly from Mrs. Susan Gay’s benefaction.

Thomas Lane, by a second codicil to his will, in 1676, devised his closes of meadow and pasture land, lying near the east side of Broad street, in Ludlow, to be conveyed to feoffees in trust, that the rents and profits should be weekly disposed of in bread and money to twelve poor widows of the town of Ludlow.  The land contains 1a. 3r. 34p., which produces an annual income of £23. 10s.

From an entry in an old book belonging to the corporation, it appears that Evan Phillips gave £22 to remain a stock for ever for the poor of the town of Ludlow; and directed certain trustees to dispose of the same in the purchase of lands, or otherwise, as they should think fit; the profits of the £20 to be given to twelve poor persons, and the remaining 40s. to be spent by the trustees, for their recreation, at their meetings on the business of the charity.  It appears from the same book that he also gave a judgment debt of £10, due to him, for the use of six more poor persons of Ludlow.  There is now a piece of land in Lynney appropriated to this charity, called the Poor’s Close, containing 3r. 26p., which is let at an annual rent of £13; of which £12. 6s. 8d. is distributed among eighteen poor persons by the bailiffs of the town.

Richard Davies, by will dated 1699, bequeathed £100 to be laid out in lands, in trust, to distribute the rents and profits among eight poor widows of Ludlow, not partakers of any other charity in the town.  In respect of this sum the corporation make an annual payment of £6, which is distributed as the donor directed.  Eleanor Handford left £25, the interest thereof to be given to ten poor persons in Castle street ward on Good Friday, yearly.  John Long, by will, gave to the poor of the parish of St. Lawrence, in Ludlow, the sum of £20, the interest thereof to be distributed among the poor.  There is also found copied into the charity book a statement that Mrs. Robinson left £100 to the poor of Ludlow, the interest to be applied as follows; viz.: 50s. to the Charity school, and 50s. to twenty poor housekeepers, to be named by the bailiffs and rector on St. John the Evangelist’s day.

Thomas Meyricke, by will, dated 1724, bequeathed to the bailiffs, burgesses, and commonalty £40, in trust, to lend it from time to time to four poor tradesmen, not being ale sellers for three years, without interest, in sums of £10 each, upon sufficient security.  Sir Timothy Tourueur, Knight, also gave £100, to be lent for a like time to four young tradesmen upon good security.  Thomas Meyricke also bequeathed £40, the interest to be paid to the charity schools at Ludlow.